Countercultural

Gil Rendle most recently served as senior vice president with The Texas Methodist Foundation in Austin Texas and as an internationally respected independent consultant working with issues of change and leadership in Protestant, Catholic and Jewish denominational systems. Prior to this position he served the Alban Institute as an author, seminar leader and senior consultant for twelve years. An ordained United Methodist minister, Rendle also served as senior pastor of two urban congregations in Pennsylvania and as a denominational consultant for The United Methodist Church. He is the author of ten books, a contributor to four books, and the author of numerous articles and monographs. Recent books include Doing the Math of Mission (2014) and Quietly Courageous: Leading the Church in a Changing World (2018) published by Rowman & Littlefield. He was named as a Distinguished Alumni of the Boston University School of Theology in 2021. Gil is a resident of Haverford, Pennsylvania where he lives with his wife, Lynne.

Preface

An Introduction to an Argument



In Defense of a Counter-Cultural Church
What Now Is a Congregation? – The Hidden Malleability of the Institutional Congregation
Being at the End of Our Rope – Living In a World Without a Reliable Order
Usufruct and Obedience to the Unenforceable – The Importance of Institutions
Jesus Loves Me, and the Stories We Tell Ourselves – The Treasure in our Clay Pot
The Simple Treasure and the Complexity of Discipleship
Where Does “WE” Live? – Finding the New Public Space and Common Good
Jesus Is Enough

Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the Author